Industrial Tapes Information
Industrial tapes are used for adhesive bonding, thread sealing, masking, packaging, wrapping, electrical insulation, ESD control and other specialized applications. Industrial tapes include both adhesive tapes, non-adhesive tapes and special purpose tapes. Adhesive tapes are used for joining materials. Non-adhesive tapes and special purpose tapes are used in a variety of specific applications such as thread sealing, electrical insulation, electronic die or device carrying (TAB), EMI/RFI shielding, static discharge control, x-ray shielding or x-ray photo marking, part identification, label or display protection, sealing, seaming, welding, floor marking/directions, heat sinks, thermal protection, bundling cables or products, non-skid/antislip, slide/glide/friction reduction, and more.
When selecting industrial tapes it is important to have knowlege of the type of tape you are looking for as well as required dimensions and physical properties. Carrier material, adhesive type, and release or liner material are important product-construction parameters for industrial tapes.
Types of Industrial Tapes
There are four basic product categories: non-adhesive tape, single-sided adhesive tape, double-sided adhesive tape, and transfer tape.
Non-adhesive industrial tape does not have an applied adhesive, but may be self-adhering. Examples include PTFE thread-sealing tape, a product more commonly known as Teflon® tape (DuPont).
Single-sided adhesive tapes have only one side of the backing or carrier that is coated with adhesive.
Double-sided adhesive tapes have both sides of the backing or carrier coated with an adhesive. In some cases, two different pressure sensitive adhesives (PSAs) are used on each side. Typically, liners for double-sided tapes incorporate differentially-coated release liners.
Transfer tape is a highly versatile industrial tape that consists of a thin adhesive film without a carrier or backing. It can be transferred readily to most dry surfaces from a peel-away release liner.
Dimensions
- Width is the cross section parallel to the radius of curvature of the spool to which the tape is wound. It is also the shortest distance across a plane.
- Thickness is the distance from one surface of a tape, film, or laminate backing or adhesive to the other. It is usually expressed in mils or thousandths of an inch, and is measured under slight pressure with a special gauge
Physical Properties
- Peel strength or adhesion is the force required to separate two bonded surfaces.
- Tensile strength is the force required to break a piece of tape, film or laminate by pulling on opposite ends of the piece.
- Temperature resistance is the maximum temperature that products can withstand.
- Dielectric strength is the voltage that products can withstand without allowing the passage of current.
Materials
- The adhesive is a coating that adheres to the substrate that the tape was designed for. Non-adhesive tapes will not have an adhesive.
- The carrier or backing is a thin, flexible material to which an adhesive is applied.
- Release Liners are paper or film materials with specialized non-stick coatings used to cover and protect the adhesive for some adhesive tapes, transfer tapes and double coated tapes. Release liners are removed and disposed of when the tape is applied.
Adhesive |
Carrier / Backing Material |
Release Liner |
None / Non-adhesive | Cloth | Paper / Kraft Paper |
Acrylic | Glass / Fiberglass | Plastic Film |
Epoxy | Filament | Fluoropolymer |
Hot Melt / Heat Activated | Foam | Glassine |
Pressure Sensitive (PSA) | Metal Foil / Sheet | Board |
Rubber | Paper | Specialty / Other |
Silicone | Plastic / Polymer | |
Specialty / Other | Rubber | |
Specialty / Other |
Substrate
Industrial tapes are rated for use with various substrates. These substrates include ceramics and glass, concrete and masonry, composites, foam and foam bonding materials, leather, metal, paper or paperboard, plaster or plasterboard, plastic, porous surfaces, rubber and elastomers, textiles and fabrics, and wood and wood products. Industrial tape that is designed for dissimilar substrates can bond metal to rubber, for example.
Image credits:
Saint-Gobain Performance Plastics | Intertape Polymer Group Inc. (IPG) | Hillas Packaging, Inc. | Avery Dennison
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- Abrasion / Scratch Resistant
- Acrylic
- Acrylic / Acrylate
- Anti-static / ESD Control
- Cloth - Felt / Non-woven
- Cloth - Woven Fabric
- Dielectric / Insulating
- Double-Sided Adhesive
- EMI / RFI Shielding
- Electrically Conductive
- Epoxy
- Filament
- Fluoropolymer
- Foam
- Glass / Fiberglass
- Hot Melt / Heat Activated
- Metal Foil / Sheet
- Non-adhesive
- PET / Polyester
- PVC / Vinyl
- Paper
- Permanent
- Plastic / Polymer
- Polyimide (e.g., Kapton®)
- Pressure Sensitive (PSA)
- Protective Tape
- Reflective
- Removable
- Rubber
- Rubber
- Safety / Flagging
- Silicone
- Silicone
- Single-Sided Adhesive
- Adhesive: Specialty / Other
- Carrier / Backing Material: Specialty / Other
- Thermally Insulating / Insulative
- Transfer
- Transparent
- UV / Weather Resistant